The most Canadian stories of 2014

Sometimes a story comes along that is as Canadian as maple syrup. However in 2014, there seemed to be an abundance of them. From the orphaned moose being picked up and taken into the local Tim Hortons to the hockey-loving couple who decided to tie the knot at centre ice, here are some of the year's stories that had us thinking, "Only in Canada, eh."¯

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We Canadians do love our hockey. One Ontario player loves the game so much she incorporated it into her wedding. Kelly Sage married her fiance Andrew McCracken at centre ice in her home arena in Stirling-Rawdon, Ont., on October 4, while their wedding guests watched from the stands. While it may seem like an unusual choice of venue, Sage who coaches the Stirling Blues, the same team she played for when she was younger, said, "It just seemed appropriate."¯ (Photo: Luke Hendry/QMI Agency)

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Two iconic symbols came together in perhaps the most Canadian story of 2014. After discovering a two-day-old moose calf along the side of a highway in May, a northern Ontario man picked it up and brought it to Tim Hortons. "The wolves would have got to her,"¯ said Stephan Michel Desgroseillers, who kept the calf overnight, before taking it to an animal shelter. Unfortunately, this story did not have a happy ending. The calf, which was named Oliver by the shelter, died in August, after having a heart attack during surgery on a broken leg. (Photo: Taken from video by Shirley Erkila/Facebook/QMI Agency)

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What happens when you go ice fishing, but the fish aren't biting? Well, one group of would-be fishermen near Simcoe, Ont., got creative and built themselves a "hoser hot tub"¯ during an outing in March. Using snowmobiles to tow the wooden hot tub to their ice huts, the friends filled it with water and used a wood stove to heat it. The contraption made their fishing adventure more fun and caught the attention of passersby. "I'm pretty sure we're the only people that have ever done it,"¯ said Scott Chesterman at the time. "We weren't catching any fish, so we thought we'd do something else."¯ (Photo: Holly Porter/Contributed)

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While the beaver may be our national animal, occasionally a story comes along that highlights how destructive and angry these little woodworkers can be. As was the case in Miramichi, N.B., earlier this year when one particularly temperamental beaver spent an entire day terrorizing the town. The angry rodent caused traffic delays as it walked down the streets and attacked people who tried to get a picture of it. "The damn thing was lost, it was going down the street,"¯ said police Sgt. Ed Arbeau. (Photo: Fotolia)

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Did you hear the one about the alleged thief who attempted to flee police in a canoe? While this may sound like the makings of great joke, it actually happened in Halifax, N.S., in October. After allegedly breaking into a home, the suspect "was making a getaway in a red canoe," Const. Theresa Rath said at the time. The 20-year-old suspect was arrested and charged after he ditched the canoe and made his way to land. (Photo: Fotolia)

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From time to time, bears have been known to be somewhat of a nuisance in parts of the country, wandering into towns or cities searching for food. However, this year bears nearly ruined Halloween for some Canadian children. The threat of polar bears forced kids in the town of Arviat, Nunavut, to trick-or-treat inside the local community centre. And residents in Banff, Alta., were warned to move carved pumpkins inside their houses as opposed to leaving them on their steps after a grizzly was spotted in the area looking for food. "I understand people want to have pumpkins out, but they could make things more risky,"¯ said David Gummer, a Parks Canada wildlife biologist. (Photo: REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger)

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We're used to seeing ice-resurfacing machines, here in the Great White North. But, when a guy wearing a hockey helmet is photographed driving one down the highway in July -- things are about to go viral. Peter Downs took such a photo during his commute to work in St. Catharines, Ont., and posted it to Twitter. The photo was retweeted hundreds of times and sparked the hashtag #YouKnowUrInCanadaWhen. "It's just funny, because it's the middle of summer and I think Canadians like to think of themselves as this hockey-mad nation and this just shows some of that is true,"¯ said Downs. (Photo: Provided by Peter Downs)

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You don't mess with hockey fans! Frustrated Montreal Canadiens fans in northern Ontario turned to their MP when the CBC lost the rights to broadcast NHL games, because they were unable to view Habs games in French. Apparently the NHL assumed northern Ontarians would be more interested in watching the Toronto Maple Leafs. Fortunately Charlie Angus, the New Democrat MP for Timmins-James Bay, was able to work out a solution with Nickle Belt NDP MP Claude Gravelle. "People love hockey in the North and I've learned that you don't mess with Habs fans,"¯ Angus said in a media release. (Photo: PHILIPPE-OLIVIER CONTANT/QMI Agency)